Logo of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). Photo source: Facebook
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Claim: A Facebook user shared a video claiming it shows University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) students and staff arrested for being on the payroll of Boko Haram.
Verdict: False! The video is old and unrelated to any current events, and no UNIMAID student has been arrested for links to Boko Haram.
Full Text
A Facebook user, Citizen AY, shared a video archived here, claiming security operatives arrested students and staff of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) in Borno State for allegedly acting as informants for Boko Haram in exchange for money.
“University of Maiduguri students/staff who are on the payroll of Boko Haram rounded up! They are insiders informants!” the caption of the post reads.
The less than two-minute footage is a split-screen clip: the left side shows a narrator recounting the alleged events, while the right side shows uniformed officers parading suspects.
The clip has been widely sharedhere, here, and here, with several concerns raised online.
DUBAWA decided to verify the claim due to the gravity of the allegation, the school’s reputation, and to set the record straight.
Verification
We examined the video and observed that the officers’ vests were labelled “SARS,” referring to the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
SARS was officially dissolved in 2020 following nationwide protests over reports of harassment, torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings. This indicates that the video predates 2020, meaning it cannot depict a recent arrest.
So we conducted a reverse image search, which showed that the same video circulated as early as September 2019. At that time, some claimed the suspects in the video were UNIMAID students arrested for alleged cult activities, while others alleged Boko Haram links.
UNIMAID officially refuted claims linking its students to Boko Haram in a statement released by the university’s Registrar, Ahmad Lawan. The management described the viral claim as “false, baseless, and mischievous.”
The university affirmed that no student has been found to have links to Boko Haram or any other terrorist group and emphasised its ongoing commitment to countering violent extremism, promoting peace, and supporting national security in the North-East region.
Conclusion
The claim that UNIMAID students and staff were recently arrested for being on the payroll of Boko Haram is false. The video is from 2019.
